Many of those who come to visit Sapa tours with local guides have amazed how they were able to see with their own eyes plantations quite large cannabis. It is not surprising why many are wondering whether marijuana is legal or not in Vietnam, I’ve asked myself quite a few times: how is it possible that these ethnic groups have these plantations if in theory the country is prohibited?

Why did the police allow the cultivation of cannabis in Vietnam?

The answer is that the type of cannabis that is cultivated members of the hmong and other ethnic groups is perfectly legal in both Vietnam and in many other places in the world, such as united states, Canada and the European Union. The so-called “industrial hemp”, which is known in Vietnam as cây lanh, is a plant variant of the cannabis sativa. These plants smell of cannabis, and they are visual, very similar to those of marijuana. However, the industrial hemp only contains between 0.2% and 0.3% of THC, which is between 10 and 100 times less than the marijuana, and is used in many places in the world to manufacture a large variety of objects like paper, clothes, plastics biodegragables, paint, insulation, biofuel, food, and food for animals and others. In Vietnam, the hmong and other ethnic groups present in Vietnam extracted from this type of plant, the thread used for the manufacture of woven fabrics of their traditional clothing.

On the other hand, marijuana is known in Vietnam as cần sa. This type of plant has a high level of THC, between 3% and 30%, and is illegal in most countries of the world. In this sense, Vietnam is not an exception and the one who cultivates this type of plant in Vietnam, you risk to face from fines to imprisonment, depending on the severity of each case.

In conclusion, the plantations that they usually find some tourists in Vietnam are not marijuana but industrial hemp, and therefore, they are completely legal.

For more information, I recommend eacher an eye to my video on the cultivation of hemp in Vietnam.